RvB: Hard To Say Goodbye
by Brovenger
Summary: "You wouldn't understand, even if I told you," Wash said. "Why not?" South asked. "Because you didn't get an AI, remember?" he smirked at her.


**A/N: Well I haven't been doing much the past few weeks because I've just been burnt out and sick. But now I have some stuff to offer today! Yay. :D

* * *

**

Wash blinked a few times, trying to focus his blurry vision. He was hunched over his bed, attempting to tie the laces on his boots. His hands were shaking so bad the task was proving to be nigh impossible. His frustration was growing.

Three short taps on his doorframe caught his attention, and he looked over to see South Dakota standing in the threshold oh his room, leaning on the frame. He groaned inwardly at the sight of her and sat up, glaring at her. She smirked at him.

"'Sup, Psycho?" she asked. When she failed to receive an answer from him, she continued speaking, "I heard ya beat the hell out of your girlfriend when you were on leave; even got arrested and all that."

Wash's gaze returned to his boots, still loose and untied around his feet. His hand curled into a fist beside him, grabbing the sheet.

"It was an accident," he said quietly.

South laughed, an annoying, high-pitched cackle. "Really? Because you don't get your nose shattered and both your eyes blackened on an 'accident'!" she exclaimed. "What did she do, walk into a door?"

"South…" he growled, turning his eyes back on her. "What do you want?"

"Just thought I'd come say 'hi'," she said. "Is there a rule against that?"

Wash didn't answer her, just kept staring. Finally he said, "Leave. I don't need your shit right now."

South frowned, pushing off the door frame and walking over to him. She stood in front of him. "You know, that's all anyone ever hears from you anymore," she said. "What's the big hurry, anyway?"

"**You** wouldn't understand, even if I explained it," he said curtly. He stood up, to hell with fixing his boots; he'd make do.

"And why wouldn't I?" she asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Because you didn't get an AI, remember?" he said cooly. Their eyes met briefly, and he gave her a condescending, cocky grin before pushing past her and walking out of the room.

South made to retort, but he was already gone by the time she'd recovered from his blow. She growled a little as anger flared up in her. His smirk only reminded her of how much she hated his guts, how much she wanted to wring his neck. She settled for punching a hole in his wall and kicking his small laptop desk over. The expensive computer crashed to the floor with a bang. She slammed his door shut behind her as she exited.

Wash rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, he'd traveled far enough away from his room that he didn't hear the noise as South destroyed his computer. He'd be pissed off when he returned later and found the machine busted up on the floor, but it really didn't matter. It was Freelancer's money and equipment being wasted; he had no real use for it.

He'd taken a disliking to computers as of late.

He was so lost in thought he didn't even see Maine as he took another corner. The two men crashed into one another, causing Maine to stumble backwards, flailing his arms so he didn't lose his balance. Wash just bumped into the wall. Maine steadied himself and looked over at his former roommate. He hadn't seen much of Washington since they'd gotten their AI's. The Director kept him and Sigma pretty busy with training and Wash had been…well, he wasn't allowed to participate in training any more; not since the incident with the Director.

"Hey, man," Maine said, smiling a little. "Haven't seen you in a while."

Wash looked up at him, he'd been staring at his shoes again wondering why they couldn't just tie themselves. His gaze wasn't exactly fixed, he seem to stare around Maine rather than directly at him.

Maine looked down at Wash's untied boots and frowned a little. Wash had always been so impeccable about his appearance, not because he truly cared what he looked like, but because he always tried to present himself in a professional manner. He couldn't help but view the untied pieces of fabric as a metaphor for the state of his old friend's mind.

Of course, he could have always been reading too much into it, also.

He squatted down in front of Wash, taking a hold of the laces on his right foot and pulling on them. "Your shoes are untied, man," he said, fixing the laces up and moving to the next boot. "That's totally not like you."

"Yeah…" Wash said. "I seem to be doing all sorts of things that are unlike me as of late."

Maine finished up with his shoes and stood back up. He stared at Wash's face for a few seconds, taking in how different he looked, He just didn't look _**well. **_

"Wash, I-"

"Don't," Wash interjected. "Whatever it is, I don't care right now." He turned back in his original direction and started down the hallway again.

Maine made to follow him, calling out. "David! Hey, wait up a second!"

"That's not my name anymore," Wash said, stopping only to press the button for the elevator. The doors opened with a hiss and he stepped in, turning around to face Maine. "You know that."

Maine stopped as Wash pressed a button on the wall panel inside the elevator. He tried to think of something to say, but for once he found himself at a loss. The doors hissed shut again and Wash was gone.


End file.
